NFL teams averaged 3.7 punts per game in 2020, the lowest in league history.
Many NFL coaches are embracing what analytics advocates have said for years:
punting -- especially on fourth and short at or near midfield -- is counterproductive if a team's goal is to put points on the scoreboard. From the mid-80s to 2017, NFL teams averaged around 4.8 punts per game -- a rate that has dropped in each of the past four seasons. Fourth down aggressiveness has taken center stage during the 2021 postseason. While Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin elected to punt on fourth and short in a Wild Card Weekend comeback attempt against Cleveland, Kansas City head coach Andy Reid called a game-winning fourth down play against Cleveland in the Divisional Round, directing backup QB Chad Henne to take the snap -- instead of trying to draw the Browns offsides -- and throw a short pass to Tyreek Hill. Titans head coach Mike Vrabel decided to punt on fourth and short while trailing the Ravens in the Wild Card round -- a disastrous decision that doomed Tennessee to a first round loss. More analytically minded coaches could make punts from midfield a relic of an ultra-conservative NFL past.